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A Breath of Fresh Summer Air

Here in the US Northeast, we were hit with a rare autumn
snow storm this past weekend. I shudder
to think what this means for the winter season.
Where I am specifically, there was no snow, just a very cold and windy
rain fall. But there were many people
who got lots of wet snow causing downed power lines and trees. Some people are still without power. I was in New York City for a brief time
during the storm and so witnessed said snow.

As you all know, I
love fall. I don’t even mind winter
when the holidays are approaching (come January, that is another story
entirely). But an early snow storm isn’t
a fall thing I love, especially this year.
I spent all last week looking at this:

So imagine my surprise when we landed in a snowy New York
City.

Our trip to Turks
and Caicos was a special treat for various reasons—we were celebrating our
fifth wedding anniversary; it was our first trip to the Caribbean; it was our
first plane ride together (sad, I know); it was a second, if not “proper” first,
honeymoon; and we desperately needed to get away for a while. We knew we wanted to go somewhere in the
Caribbean, and while we looked at other places, we always seemed to come back
to Turks. A huge bonus was hearing what
a laid back, non-frat-party atmosphere it is.
But what sealed to deal for us was Club
Med Turkoise, an adult-only all-inclusive resort, the only adult-only Club
Med remaining in the world.

There are many resorts to choose from on Providenciales,
our island of choice. We knew going in
that Club Med didn’t have the fanciest of rooms, but it was all-inclusive (minus
certain activities) so it was the best choice of us. And once we saw the view from our room, we
knew we had made the right choice.

Provo is a beautiful island.
The sky is blue, the sun almost always shines, the weather is warm, and
the water is a clear turquoise. There
isn’t much in the way of shopping or a “town,” but that’s part of its charm. You are cut off from much of the everyday
world (at least as I know it). The
atmosphere is one of relaxation and rest.

Being at Club Med was like being at camp, only better. All three meals were prepared for us, and the
food was great. I ate healthier there
than I do at home since there was so much to choose from. Drinks are *free* and are served all day
long. The staff there was so nice; I can’t
say enough about them. Everyone said
hello as they passed. The “chief of the
village” circulated among the common areas of the resort everyday to make sure
people were having a good time. Not only
does he speak multiple languages, but he knows which language the guests speak. Everyone was so accommodating. Even the guests were happy (probably because
they were on vacation) and said hello to you as they passed. People were more than happy to strike up
conversations with strangers. We made
some very good friends while we were there.
Unlike many of the other places we routinely visit, the guests come from
all over the country and the world, so we weren’t bombarded with other Long
Islanders/New Yorkers, though we did find a few.

One of the things I loved about this Club Med is that you
have to pay for WiFi. It was expensive,
and so I did not have access to the Internet or email for an entire week. I have to
tell you, I did not miss it one bit. I actually
loathed to be reconnected once we arrived home (though I did miss my Philofaxy community). Likewise, I did not see many people connected
to their devices while vacationing. Yes,
some people occasionally checked their Blackberry or iPhone, but for the most
part, people did not have their heads buried in technology. Surprisingly, I also didn’t see that many
eReaders. Some people did have them and
used them, but it was more common to see people reading actual books. The reason for this is probably because they
wouldn’t have been upset if their paperback was lost or damaged, whereas they
would be if it was an eReader. Whatever
the reason, it was very refreshing to see the lack of technology, to see people
interacting face-to-face with each other.
It was something I desperately
needed.

So. What did we do on
our vacation?

For the most part, we relaxed by the pool and/or beach.

We also took advantage of the bar.

There are many different activities going on at Club Med,
some that are free and others that you need to pay extra for. Each day we did one “activity,” and the rest
of the time we relaxed and read (though more often than not, I
people-watched). We went snorkeling
twice. The first time we saw a number of
fish, including a stingray. The second time, we saw a sea turtle, which is what I
had hoped for.

From this high up, you can see over the island to the water
on the other side.

After about 15 minutes, the boat captain reels you back in.

We were lucky enough to see a dolphin while on the boat (the
shadow in the water is the dolphin—unfortunately, I was not able to get a
picture with his head out of the water).

We also went on a sunset sail.

The sunsets at Provo are amazing.

Here are some other random pictures of our trip:

The massage cabana - we did not partake. =(

For my fellow coffee-lovers!

Sadly, we drank all the beer we could, and the week had to
come to an end.

I hope to return to Turks and Caicos in the future. It may not have been Paris,
but the sentiment was the same. In fact,
it might have been better. I can’t tell
you how much we both needed this vacation, to relax, unwind, and unplug. Our footprints may be long erased from the
Provo sand, but Provo will always be with us.

Wow! What an amazing trip! I bet you enjoyed it even more as a second honeymoon because you weren't frazzled after just getting married! It sounds like you had loads of fun and you sound SUPER relaxed. I agree with Zoe, I feel more rested just from reading your post and looking at the pictures! :)

What People Are Reading

There has been much talk about Gillio Firenze planners lately.Many people have purchased them and written
blogs posts about them; they have been featured in Philofaxy posts;
there’s a dedicated Facebook
group for them.Their planners are
beautiful, but they have a price tag to match (though well worth every penny,
from what I’m hearing).It’s like an
exclusive club, the way people are talking about them—I’m not all too familiar
with the company or the planner names; I don’t have a new bag to compare my new
Gillio planner to; I don’t own a binder whose leather is so soft and supple,
like butter. I’m jealous. There, I said it.Sigh. Yes, I’m jealous. All of the buzz I’m hearing—the
excitement over a new planner, and not just a new planner, but a gorgeous one
at that, one that compares to nothing like I’ve ever seen before.Or so I’m hearing. I’ve perused the website.I like what I see.I especially like that there’s a slim
collection, with
a closure and even without
a closure.Since starting
up wit…

Why can’t we notebook lovers just stick to
something simple, stick to one brand, stick to one system? Because it’s too much fun to try new things,
that’s why. And I, apparently, am easily swayed. A few months ago, I wrote about my Traveler’s
Notebook.Simply put, I was using it
as a spirituality notebook.I had three
books in the leather cover—one for a church committee, one for a second church
committee, and one for motivational quotes and gratitude lists.It was great having all of these things in
one book. However, I noticed that it was difficult
using this notebook as whole, especially when it came to writing in it while it
sat on my lap.I found that the books
would shift, moving off of the notebook behind it.In addition, using the front and/or back
notebooks meant that one side was much higher than the other.Basically, I spent more time fiddling with it
than I did actually writing in it. As much as I loved it, it was distracting. The reason for this could be that there’s
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has been busy keeping my crazy weekends organized and well planned.(I have to say that I absolutely LOVE this
binder.It was worth every penny, and I
have no desire to move out of it any time soon.)Since first writing about my new Van der Spek
binder, I have been to Philadelphia and New York City, done volunteer work (twice),
worked a couple of weekends, gone to a Mother’s Day brunch, and gone back to
Philadelphia.Now she’s helping me to
relax during my vacation at home.

This is a list of things to I’d like to
accomplish while I’m off this week.But
it’s a loose list, meaning if I don’t get to cross these items off my list,
it’s okay—this is just what I would like
to get done. I started this list a few weeks ago.Since my weekends have been so busy, there
have been a lot of things that I didn’t get to (blogging is one of those
things).So I created this list as a way
to get to some of these items while I’m off.I added things as t…